Tell Me a Story
by Magic Kaito
Summary: Drosslemeyer's influence is gone, Ahiru is a girl once again, and people are vanishing. To make matters worse, Fakir hasn't written a thing about any of this. Could there be someone else?
1. Chapter 1

Tell Me a Story

AN: I can't explain too much of what led to this story without spoiling it. Basically it was spawn from my very odd line of thinking which has made itself apparent in some of my other fics.

Disclaimer: I don't own Princess Tutu. So don't sue me. I'm not selling this, duh.

* * *

Kinkan Town had always been prone to the suggestion of stories; not from reading them, but from the actual writing. The town had, in fact, been released from the effects of one of these stories that had controlled their every way of life a few months earlier. Few remembered this occurrence, however, as it was also part of the story's design.

The citizens now went on with their normal lives as though nothing had ever been strange. In fact, their memories of that time were all but gone. A few people that had been more tightly woven into the story felt as though something were missing, although most could not place what it was.

As for the ones that did remember, they were looked upon as odd in the town. Their numbers were very few, and one was hardly noticed at all, but something seemed off about them.

For instance, the young man that spent much of his time writing. The people had remembered him as a boy with a troubled past who tended to be moody. Now he suddenly was obsessed with his works and more open to others than before. They could have sworn a few people had helped to change him... but who were they, again? Must have been their imaginations.

He continued to write and puzzle the townsfolk, however, as did the fact that there was a small duck that never seemed to leave his side. Something in the bird's eyes made it seem almost human. Something about the way it reacted... could ducks even react? No, that was a crazy notion. And yet, the people could not help but whisper about the creepy duck guy, and they could not help but feel these things around the bird.

Of course, the townsfolk had forgotten that this duck had, for a time, been a girl. As Ahiru, she had loved to dance and help those around her, especially her beloved prince who needed his heart returned. The prince was only remembered as a character in a story now, though, and the girl as a shadow. The duck remembered all of this, however. It was not in her design to forget what had happened because it was not in her design to still exist at the end of the story. The same went for the knight who had not died as he was supposed to, and it was he that had kept writing so he could truly finish the story for the prince. It was he who continued to write stories of hope to this day. It was a happily ever after all around.

Or was it? For the knight himself had been very close to the girl that was now a duck. After the many pains and hardships the two had gone through together, Fakir had sworn to remain by her side forever. Even a promise as simple as that had been enough to restore happiness and hope to Ahiru.

What was the nature of this relationship? Were they truly happy with the way things stood? Was he really glad to see her in this form? Did Fakir secretly wish to return her to being a human through his writing? And, if he did, was he not capable of doing so, which would to lead to angst? The copious amounts of angst?!

And did the duck that had a taste of humanity truly want to remain a bird though it was her true self? Now that she was free to follow her own feelings, what were they? What, also, were her feelings toward this young man who had given her strength when she needed it most? What, indeed...

* * *

Ahiru awoke with a grunt. She had that strange dream again. The one with the narrator. "I really wish I'd quit having those," she thought as she squirmed.

Still, she couldn't complain too much about her situation. After Prince Siegfried and Rue had left, she had stayed at Fakir's until her wounds were healed. Once she was able to get around on her own again, the two of them had just stayed together. Whether it was in the town or at the lake or in his room, she was always with him.

This fact shouldn't have surprised her, though, and it didn't really. He had told her he would stay with her, and that's what he was doing. It made her happy, she knew that for certain. Plus, it was nice to have a warm bed in a blanket-lined basket in the corner of his room.

The days had been going by uneventfully since the story had ended. While she could no longer go to school or dance with everyone as she had loved to do, she could still bring smiles to people by simply being there. It was too bad that most of them gave her strange looks whenever they saw her, though. She wondered why they did that.

She could keep Fakir company while he wrote, too. She wasn't really sure what he was writing at the moment. It was a bit hard for her to read as a duck, and he didn't really talk about it to her nor could she hear him writing in her mind. Ahiru could only assume that meant he wasn't writing about her this time, and, honestly, she wasn't really sure how she felt about that. It was nice to no longer be part of a story and to be able to make her own decisions, yet something about Fakir not writing about her felt a bit... cold.

"Wait, cold?" she suddenly thought. Now that she noticed it, she suddenly was feeling very cold. This was definitely not normal for that warm little bed she had. "Huh, I must have fallen out again. It was probably because of that weird dream I had," she told herself, scratching herself on the head.

...Wait, what?

Upon realizing what she had done, she quickly sat up and looked down at her hands. Yes, she definitely had hands. She could only assume she had a human body to go with them. In her utter surprise and disbelief, she let out a scream.

Fakir immediately awoke and sat straight up in his bed. "What happened?!" he cried, not having time to think about the implications of her shout. He looked down at her and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Fakir, what...?"

Within a split second he had turned bright red and flung his blankets at her.

"What was that for, Fakir?!"

"_Cover up!_"

Ahiru blushed as she realized that she was not, in fact, wearing anything. She quickly wrapped the blankets around herself and sat on the floor. Then she turned her attention back to Fakir, who seemed very interested in the wall. "All right," she said, a bit of embarrassment in her voice.

Fakir turned back to look at her, an expression of disbelief on his face. If he wanted to say something, he was too lost in thought to express it.

After a bit of a silence, Ahiru finally spoke again. She still sounded a tad embarrassed and unsure. "Say, Fakir, why did you wr-"

"Why are you a girl again?" he finally asked, still in disbelief.

"Hu...Huuuuuuuuuh?!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

AN: So, I figured since chapter 1 is more prologue than anything, I'd post chapter 2 now. Might wait til I get some of the later chapters more completely before I post chapter 3, though. We'll see what the overall interest is.

Disclaimer: Princess Tutu is still owned by someone else.

* * *

"Why are you a girl again?" Fakir asked, looking at the former duck in shock.

"Hu...Huuuuuuuuuh?!" she squeaked in reply. "What do you mean 'why?' Didn't you have something to do with this?"

"No, I didn't," he answered, his expression growing more concerned.

"But... how am I a girl?"

"If I knew that, why would I have asked?"

"Oh, right," she said, frowning. There was silence for quite a while. Ahiru seemed lost in thought while staring at the floor, while Fakir continued to watch her, the look on his face showing different levels of concern as his mind clearly raced.

"So, what should we do?" she asked, looking up at him.

Fakir seemed a bit surprised and turned his attention to the floor now. He thought for a bit, then looked back at the girl wrapped in his blankets. "Well, first we'd better find you something to wear," he said, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Then we can focus on figuring out what happened."

Ahiru smiled and nodded.

It took a lot of digging, but eventually Fakir managed to find an old dress Raetsel had left there for some reason that was about her size. He left her in his room to put it on and stood in the hallway thinking. "How is this possible? I'm positive I didn't write anything that could do this to her. But what other option is there?"

"Okay, I'm ready," he heard her say after a bit. He opened the door and started to walk in. There was something about seeing her as a girl again and seeing her wear a nicer dress like that. He thought he felt his heart skip a beat.

"No, what I am thinking? That's not..." he said to himself, his cheeks turning a bit red as he looked away from the now confused girl. Something about his reaction didn't feel completely...natural.

"Um... Fakir? Is something wrong?"

"No," he replied, finally looking at her again. "I mean, yes, we do have a problem, but..."

"So you really didn't write anything about me?" she asked, looking curious and a bit sad. Frankly her expression was rather cute...No! No it wasn't!

"No, I didn't write..." he began, but he suddenly stopped and looked very confused. He began muttering, "That can't be right."

"Wh-what can't?"

"I know for a fact I never wrote anything like that, but somehow I think I did. But I didn't! My...mind is a blur..."

Ahiru reacted in shock. "Wait, what?! You think you did and you think you didn't? That doesn't really make sense, Fakir..."

"I know," he replied, putting his hand on his forehead. "But I'm positive I didn't do this. I don't know why I'm thinking like this!"

"M-maybe you wrote it in your sleep or something!"

He frowned at her. "How is that even possible?"

"Uhh... Um, I dunno, it was just a suggestion!"

Fakir sighed. "Regardless, I don't see anything I wrote that would have done this around here. We need to find out what happened. Do you remember anything?"

"Not really," she answered, seeming deep in thought as she cocked her head toward the ceiling. "I remember waking up and thinking I was still a duck and then seeing that I wasn't. Does that help?"

"Ahiru..."

"I guess it doesn't, does it?" she sighed, looking dejectedly at the floor.

"Well, we won't find out anything just standing around here," Fakir said after a few moments, snapping her back to attention. "Come on, we need to investigate."

"Ah... all right!" she replied, smiling and following him out of the room. They got outside of Charon's and stopped in the street. Fakir seemed to be thinking once again and Ahiru looked up at him. "So, where are we going?"

"Well, if I didn't do this, and I really don't think I did," he added quietly, "there are only two possibilities I can come up with. Let's start by going to the clock tower."

"The clock tower?"

"I know. It's a long shot, but we need to check." Fakir began walking down the street.

Ahiru, however, stayed where she was, frowning a bit and watching him. "Um, Fakir?"

He stopped and turned back. "What is it?"

"I just..." she trailed off.

Fakir frowned. "You just what?"

"Nothing," she pouted.

"Then what are you standing there for?" he replied, looking a tad annoyed. "We need to get going."

She was quiet for a moment, until finally she spoke. "It's just that you don't seem very happy to see me as a girl again!" she exclaimed, looking at him angrily.

"What?" he replied, seeming very taken aback.

"You're acting all 'We need to find out how you became a girl and change you back!' You don't even act like you care!"

Fakir was at a loss for words for a few moments. "Look, can we talk about this later?"

"No! I wanna know why you're so set on fixing this now!"

He frowned and walked back toward her, stopping a few inches in front of her. Ahiru jumped a little and blushed. "Why is this so important to you?" he finally asked.

"Uhh... I-I dunno. Come to think of it, I can't really say why it's bothering me..."

"Really," he said, lowering his eyebrows.

"But it is, okay! So why aren't you... I dunno, happy?" She pouted a bit.

Fakir sighed. "We can discuss this later, all right?" he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked at it, a bit surprised. "What's worrying me right now is _why_ this happened. If Drosslemeyer has somehow found a way to write another story, we really need to stop it, right?"

"Y-yeah, that's true, but..."

Fakir dropped his arm and frowned, looking at the ground. "It's not that I'm not happy. I'm honestly not sure what I'm feeling right now, and that's worrying me too. So I think we should save anything we need to say until we know what's going on, all right?"

Ahiru stared at him wide-eyed, remaining silent.

"What is it?!" Fakir finally exclaimed, turning a little red.

"You know, I'm not really sure how I'm feeling either," she replied, still looking at him curiously.

Fakir frowned. "See? It's happening to you, too! We need to go to the clock tower, okay?"

Ahiru nodded. "O-okay!" she replied, trotting after him. It was a bit of a walk to the tall tower in the center of the town. Neither of them had been there since the story had ended, which seemed like such a long time ago now. It was quite a climb to the top as well, and Ahiru noted as she huffed and puffed barely halfway to the top that she had never actually done this on her own power before.

Fakir stopped on a small landing and turned back, watching her clutch the wall as she tried to catch her breath. "Are you sure you're all right?" he asked a bit nervously.

"Y-yeah. I-I'm fine. Just have...haven't done this...in a while..." Ahiru took a deep breath and suddenly stood back up. "Okay, let's go!"

Fakir kept watching her nervously. "You're _sure_?"

"Yep! I can totally do this!"

"...Fakir, are we there yet?"

"It's just a few more flights..."

"Eeeehhhhh...."

Finally they reached the top landing, and Ahiru immediately sat down on the floor and sighed, still breathing heavily. "I always thought you had more energy than that," Fakir noted with a frown.

"I just... need a little time... is all," she panted.

"And that also worries me," he said quietly, starting to scan the room for any signs of something writing. The old device still sat there, covered in cobwebs and dust. Its levers and other devices still hung broken above it, attached to the clock's gears. Nothing was moving. Fakir began to investigate the walls, joined after a few moments by Ahiru, looking for any signs of a hidden room or another secret machine.

"I don't see anything, Fakir," she finally said after several minutes, staring intently at a knothole in the wall.

"I don't either," he replied, still frowning. "That rules out Drosslemeyer, for now, at least. I suppose that's a good thing."

"Yeah," Ahiru said with a laugh. "But, wait, if it's not Drosslemeyer, then who else could there be?"

Fakir kept frowning. "There's one other person we should talk to..."

"Hu-huh? There is?"

"Come on, let's go to the school."

"School? Really!?"

* * *

AN: ...Three guesses XD.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

AN: Sorry for the delay. Life ran me over for the last few months and chapter six didn't want to get finished and I didn't want to start chapter seven until then. But they've both finally moved, so that means chapter three is ready for your reading pleasure! Or displeasure. ...I like being ahead.

Disclaimer: I only own the Princess Tutu DVDs. Which, if you don't have, you should totally purchase.

* * *

"Going back to school, huh?" Ahiru said as she and Fakir walked through Kinkan Town. "I wonder what it'll be like now."

"It's not like you're taking classes again," Fakir commented.

"I-I know!" she retorted a bit sadly. "It's just been a long time, you know? I kinda miss it."

"Yeah..." he said, seeming to trail off into his own thoughts.

"Anyway, why do we need to go there? Do you think Drosslemeyer hid a machine there too or something?"

"No," he answered, suddenly seeming focused. "There was nothing in the clock tower, so I think it's safe to assume he has nothing to do with this. But there's someone else that is a possibility."

"Who?"

"You'll find out," Fakir said, reaching the gates to the campus and opening them.

"I hope we don't get in trouble," Ahiru commented, looking around. "Aren't we sorta trespassing?"

"Er, well," Fakir began a bit awkwardly, "regardless, we still have to check every possible source, and one of them is here."

"Why won't you tell me what it is, Fakir?"

"Come on," he said, beginning to wander the grounds. Given the time of day, most of the students were currently in class. However, Fakir began making his way toward one of the buildings as though he was certain this was the correct place to go, followed closely by Ahiru.

"The library?" she asked as they walked inside. "What do we need to look up here?"

Fakir walked a few more steps until he had a clear view of the study tables. "Not what. Who," he replied, pointing at a young man with glasses who sat there reading quietly.

"W-wait!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Autor?! B-but I thought he couldn't do stuff like that!"

"Well, theoretically he does have the potential. Besides, if it's not him, he might have an idea about what happened."

"But how?!" Ahiru replied, looking at Fakir. "The story's over, right? Didn't everyone forget about...?"

"Would you mind being...!" Autor suddenly shouted, adjusting his glasses and standing up to look at them. However, he stopped mid-complaint and stared at them in surprise. "Fakir? I never thought I'd see you again. What are you doing here? And why is that girl with you?"

Ahiru turned her gaze back to Autor and stared at him in complete confusion with a small "Huh?" Fakir, however, took a few steps forward and replied, "That's what I need to talk to you about."

A few minutes later they found themselves in the privacy of one of the upstairs rooms. Fakir seemed very serious, while Autor smiled smugly at the two of them. Ahiru still looked completely lost. "So, what's your problem this time?" Autor finally asked.

"Well, as you can see..." Fakir began.

"Wait just a minute!" Ahiru interrupted.

"What are you doing?" Fakir asked, looking at her curiously.

"Wh-wh...why does he remember what happened?! No one else in town does! But he's acting like he knows everything!"

"Because he does," Fakir replied.

"Huh?"

"Have you forgotten that I've been studying Drosslemeyer my whole life?" Autor said, grinning. "I know all about his stories and his powers. It's only natural that one of his descendants would remember being in one of his works."

"Yeah," Fakir said a bit darkly, glaring at him a bit. Autor suddenly winced as though he were a bit embarrassed. Ahiru was even more confused.

"Anyway," Fakir continued, "as I'm sure you've noticed by now, Ahiru is not a duck anymore. Neither of us know what happened, so I want to know if you know anything about this."

"You want to know if I wrote this?" Autor replied, his grin returning.

Fakir looked at him a bit warily. "Did you?" he finally asked.

Autor was silent for a moment. "Of course not," he replied. "If I had managed to hone my powers to that level, do you think that would be the first thing I would write?"

"Anything's possible," Fakir said, once again giving him a look that Ahiru found odd. "If that's the case, then, do you know what could have done this to her?"

"I'm surprised it wasn't you, Fakir," Autor commented, adjusting his glasses. "If I recall, weren't all your stories before about...?"

"I've been writing more since then," Fakir quickly interrupted. "I finished _The Prince and the Raven_, didn't I? I didn't write this. At least, I'm fairly certain I didn't. So what else could have happened?"

Autor thought for a few moments. "I'm afraid I can't help you until I know more about the situation," he finally said. Fakir frowned, grumbling a bit.

"For one," Autor continued, "there's nothing that makes me think this is a story of Drosslemeyer's. Out of all his descendants, you seem to be the only one with the gift, and you're saying you didn't do this."

"But what else is there?" Ahiru asked.

"Well, that's the problem, isn't it?" Autor replied. "The only way I see for this to be possible is if someone wrote a story about it. But it's not Herr Drosslemeyer, it's not Fakir, and it's certainly not me."

"Then..." Fakir began, very worried, "who else could it be?"

"I'd have to look into things a bit more to see if anyone else that was involved in his last story could accomplish something like this," Autor said. "I could do some research if you'd like, but I won't do it for free."

Fakir grinned a little. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone about that if you look into this for me."

Autor quickly looked away. "That's not what I was going to say, but fine," he answered. "You should really watch how you treat me, though. You owe me a lot of thanks."

"Oh, I know," Fakir replied, beginning to walk out of the room. "Just let me know if you find something."

Autor frowned as he watched Fakir leave, followed shortly by Ahiru. "So another story is surrounding that girl, huh?" he commented after a few seconds.

Ahiru walked a bit quickly to keep up with Fakir. "What did you mean by 'You won't tell anyone about that,' Fakir?"

"If I told you, that would defeat the purpose."

"Yeah, but I wanna know..."

"It's nothing you need to worry about," Fakir replied, beginning to head downstairs. "Besides, we have a lot of work ahead of us now."

"We do?" she asked.

"We've ruled out every possibility," he replied quietly as they made their way through the library and toward the campus. "Basically we're left with no leads. We're going to have to investigate on our own."

"Oh," she said, frowning. They walked for several minutes in silence, eventually getting to the exit to the grounds. "Hey, Fakir?" she suddenly asked.

"What is it?"

"Do you think that if we can't find out what's going on that I could come back here and dance again?" she said quietly, looking back at the school.

Fakir blinked at her in surprise. Then his expression softened. "I guess it's possible. We can't worry about things like that now, though."

"Yeah..." Ahiru said, looking at the school for a second longer and turning back to Fakir and smiling at him a bit.

There was one of those feelings again. And something still felt strange about it.

"Oh, right! Fakir?"

"What now?"

"Since we've checked everywhere, can you tell me why you're in a bad mood now?"

Fakir was taken aback by this and looked a bit uncomfortable. "You're back on that again?" he finally said.

"You said you'd tell me when we were finished!"

"I said we shouldn't worry about things like that until we knew what was going on," he replied with annoyance.

"Yeah, but who knows how long that'll be?" she said sadly. "You're acting really weird, like you don't like me anymore or something."

Fakir sighed and put one hand on his head. "Can we at least wait until we get back home to talk about this?" he finally said with exasperation, beginning to walk in that direction. Ahiru watched him for a moment before following.

They made the walk back to the smith's shop quietly. Ahiru periodically glanced up at Fakir, although he did not seem to be looking at her. Something seemed to be on his mind and he didn't look very happy about it. She wondered what was bothering him so much.

Eventually they returned and went inside. Fakir muttered something about getting them some tea, so Ahiru sat at the table and waited silently for him. "He really does seem to be avoiding my question," she thought, watching him sadly. "Did I do something wrong?"

Fakir suddenly noticed her expression and, as though in a bit of a panic, said, "What's that look for?"

"Nothing."

Fakir frowned.

"You just seem to be avoiding me."

"I'm making tea," he replied, his expression not changing. "Are you really that worried about it?"

"Why do you think I keep asking you?! I just..."

Fakir walked to the table and sat down across from her, leaving the water heating. Ahiru stared at him in surprise. "Okay, what did you want know?" he asked. From the look on his face, Ahiru wasn't quite sure how he felt about this.

"I...I just wanted to know why you aren't happy that I'm not a duck anymore."

Fakir put his arms on the table, his hands clasped in front of his mouth. He thought for several moments, the silence growing more and more awkward as it passed. Ahiru felt herself being to fidget nervously as she waited for him to answer.

"I don't know," he finally said quietly, closing his eyes.

Ahiru nearly fell out of her chair in shock. "What?! It took you that long to tell me _that_?!"

"What I mean," he continued, looking at her again, "is that I've been feeling a lot of different things today. I can't explain all of them."

"R-really?"

"Yeah," he said, his eyebrows lowering a bit. "I'm sorry if my worrying has been, well, worrying you, but I'm more concerned about why this happened than what happened. I'd rather not see you get hurt again."

Ahiru blushed a tiny bit before asking, "So then, how do you feel about it now?"

Fakir seemed a bit surprised at this question. "Well, at the moment," he began, choosing his words carefully, "for the most part, I am glad to see you like this again."

"Really?" she exclaimed, smiling broadly and jumping to her feet. "That's great!"

"Why is it great?" he asked, giving her an odd look.

"Oh, well, you know, I'm happy to be a girl again, too," she replied, laughing nervously. "In a weird sort of way. I mean, now I can actually talk to you again, and..." Ahiru trailed off, smiling a tiny bit.

Fakir kept watching her curiously. "Now you're acting strangely," he finally said. "Although for you I suppose this isn't odd."

"Hey, I was just saying I'm happy..."

"Right," he replied, standing up. "If that's everything we should..."

"Wait," Ahiru suddenly said, taking a few steps toward him.

"What is it now?"

She looked at him nervously for a few moments, seeming to be thinking very carefully about something. "So you're really glad?" she finally asked.

Fakir was a bit surprised by this, an almost unnoticeable bit of red coming to his cheeks. "Y-yeah," he answered nervously. "Why?"

"Uh, nothing," she answered, laughing a little. "It's just that makes me feel happy, too..." She smiled at him.

Fakir stared at her for a moment, seeming completely shocked by her response. Then, he somewhat tentatively walked toward her, closing the gap between them. He stopped just in front of her and looked down into her eyes. Ahiru gasped a bit and flushed. They gazed at each other for what seemed like ages, all the while an awkward tension growing.

"Ahiru..."

Just then, they heard a loud sizzling. They jumped a bit and turned to notice that the water Fakir had left warming was now boiling over. "I... I'll get it," he mumbled.

Ahiru watched him as he tried to move the hot container, an inquisitive expression on her face all the while. "What just...?" she thought.

Fakir finished cleaning the mess and went back to making the tea, unusually focused on the task. He finally finished and he and Ahiru sat back down to drink it. After a few minutes of very noticeable silence, he suddenly looked confused and began looking around.

"What's wrong?" Ahiru asked.

"Have you seen Charon?" he said, trying to gaze into other rooms from his chair.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't noticed him all day," she replied, thinking.

"That's odd. He normally doesn't go out like this without saying something or leaving a note." Fakir frowned.

"Well, we'll just have to wait for him to come back," she said. "You'll probably have to explain me to him anyway," she added with a laugh. "I wonder if he'll let me stay here...?"

"We do have work to do, you know."

"Yeah," she replied, sighing. "Finding out about the story. But can't we just relax for a while? At least until Charon gets back?"

Fakir still frowned, thinking for a bit. "Alright," he answered, sipping his tea.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

AN: So, I was gonna post this in May and it's suddenly July. Wow, I fail. I was having some trouble deciding if I should change a part of this chapter or not, but yeah, sorry. And I need to get working on chapter eight, ha ha. But five should be up within the week, I promise!

Disclaimer: The story you are about to read is full of things I don't own. The names have not been changed because that would be kinda pointless.

* * *

Ahiru and Fakir waited in the smith's home for the rest of the night, but Charon did not return. It began to get very late and Fakir was looking out the window from where he sat, noticeably worried. Ahiru stared at him for a while, trying to think of something to say to make him feel better. "M-maybe he had a delivery to make out of town or something!" she finally said as cheerfully as she could. "We did kind of leave in a hurry early this morning."

"But I didn't even notice him then," Fakir replied, not looking at her or seeming any calmer. "I know I was a little preoccupied with you, but the fact is I haven't heard or seen anything of Charon all day."

Ahiru felt a bit guilty, and it showed. "Sorry..." she muttered.

"What are you apologizing for?" Fakir asked, turning his attention back to her.

"Well, you were so busy with me this morning that you might have missed him, right?"

Fakir exhaled. "Look, this isn't your fault. Like I said before, if he couldn't find me and he had to go somewhere, he would have left a note. Don't blame yourself."

"Ah...okay," she answered, still looking sad.

The minutes continued to tick by, neither of them speaking. As it grew later, Ahiru began nodding her head a bit, obviously struggling to keep her eyes open. After this continued for several minutes, Fakir looked at her with a bit of concern before speaking. "You should go get some sleep," he finally said.

"Huh?" she replied, waking herself up a bit more. "But where am I supposed to go?"

"Just go to my room," he answered, looking toward the hallway.

"Wait, but if I sleep in there, where are you gonna sleep?"

"I'm going to wait up for Charon," he replied.

"But.... But what if he doesn't get back tonight?" Ahiru said, sounding upset. "You have to go somewhere!"

"I can figure something out," Fakir replied, attempting to smile a little. "Besides, you had a busy day. You should get some rest."

"But I..."

"Just go."

She looked at him for a bit, frowning in concern. "Alright," she finally replied, turning and leaving. Fakir watched her leave the room, then turned his attention back to the window.

* * *

The next day, Ahiru blinked a bit as she awoke, the light hitting her face. She felt a bit dazed for a moment, although the ceiling above her looked somewhat familiar. "That was a weird dream," she mumbled, still half asleep. "I thought I was a girl again and Fakir and I were trying to find out what happened and I stayed at his house for the rest of the night."

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, the covers sliding off her. It took her a few more moments to assess the situation. "Wait, I really am a girl!" she exclaimed, looking at herself in shock again. "It wasn't a dream! And I am in Fakir's room!" she noted, looking across the room at her small and now a bit mussed up basket that she used to fit into. "But wait, where is Fakir?"

She got up and quickly made her way to the kitchen, only to find that Fakir was still in the same chair he had been sitting in when she left. However, he had fallen asleep, his arms and head resting on the table in front of him. Ahiru smiled and tried to walk past him quietly, only to catch her foot on one of the other chairs and send both it and herself crashing to the floor.

The noise woke up Fakir, who lifted his head and quietly murmured, "Huh?"

"Owwww...."

"What... What are you doing?" he asked, still sounding tired.

She laughed nervously as she sat up, rubbing her head. "Well, you see, I saw you were sleeping so I was trying to sneak around the table and not wake you up..."

Fakir had an expression on his face than seemed to be a mixture of annoyance and amusement. "Moron," he muttered.

"So, um," Ahiru began, brushing herself off, "why are you still out here, Fakir?"

"I told you, I was waiting for..." he began, suddenly stopping mid-sentence. His eyes widened and his expression verged on panic. "Charon! He's still not back yet!"

"Maybe he'll come back later today!" she suggested, grinning nervously and scratching her head.

Fakir turned his head and looked at the wall. "I don't know. Something still seems odd about this."

"...So what should we do then?"

"I'm not sure," he replied. "I want to wait for Charon to get back, but we still need to find out what happened to you. I'm starting to get the feeling that somehow the two are related..."

"Huuh?! How?"

"Two incredibly strange things happened in one day. I think the odds of that being a coincidence are quite low, especially if, like Autor said, this is a story."

"Yeah, but we still don't know..."

"We should go investigate some more," Fakir suddenly said, looking very serious and standing up. "We need to make sure everything else in town is all right."

"But," Ahiru began, "shouldn't we eat breakfast first or something?"

"Oh, yeah. Right," he said, frowning as this came back to him.

Ahiru watched him quietly with concern. She knew all of this was bothering Fakir, but he really shouldn't be forgetting to eat. She wondered if she could do anything to help him.

The day was mostly uneventful. After breakfast, they began wandering the town again to make sure things were as they were supposed to be. Nothing appeared to be out of place, and they found that they could easily leave the city's walls if they so chose. However, when they returned home, Charon was still no where to be seen.

Things continued like this for the next few days until practically every portion of the town, the school, the outlying area, and the lake had been checked. Fakir was growing more and more anxious. The lack of clues as to what happened to Ahiru were bad enough, but the disappearance of his father-figure was starting to weigh on him mentally as well. Ahiru would try to give him encouraging words when she could, not sure of what else she could do for him. And at least she _could_ give him those words, she noted.

So they found themselves five days since Ahiru had mysteriously become a girl again. She was beginning to wonder if they should just start trying to lead somewhat normal lives at this point. They could not find a story being written about this anywhere, she had tried quacking to see if that changed her back, but to no avail, and Fakir had stated that he refused to write anything about the matter. It was true that Charon was still missing, but she really could not think of anything else to do in this situation.

She had just finished nervously expressing this opinion to Fakir as they stood in the main part of the shop, whose initial reaction was to frown. However, he thought about it for a few moments and sighed. "You have a point," he said. "If things stay like this, sooner or later we're going to get into trouble if all we do is patrol the town everyday."

"So, what should we do then?" she asked, trying to give him a small smile.

"I don't know," he replied, slamming his hands on the work table and looking incredibly stressed. "I can't think of anything to do at all. Nothing! I can't even figure out what did this to you!"

Ahiru was becoming very worried. "Fakir..." she began, slowly walking toward him.

Just then, the door flew open. They both looked at it in surprise and Fakir quickly made his way toward it, followed by Ahiru. Fakir stopped a few feet away and extended his arm to stop her, although she nearly walked into it anyway. A figure was slumped over, leaning on the door frame and panting. Fakir watched cautiously before speaking. "Who's there?"

"It's me," the intruder panted, finally collecting himself a bit and standing up, though he was still short of breath.

"Autor? What happened?"

"I found something," he replied with a serious look on his face and a hint of panic.

"Really?" Ahiru exclaimed. "What is it?"

Autor held up a sheet of paper. "I was...investigating the story...that turned her into a girl...and I found this."

"Come on," Fakir said, heading into the main shop where the light was better as the other two followed him.

Autor, now breathing a bit easier, slammed the sheet onto the table. "See?" he said, looking at them. "This is an excerpt from this story."

"Just one page?" Fakir asked, studying the paper itself. "Where did you find this?"

"It was sitting on top of a box I found in the library," Autor replied, frowning. "This was all I could find. It's almost as though it's not finished yet and not being written constantly like Drosslemeyer's story was."

"That doesn't make sense," Fakir said, thinking. "Why is Ahiru still a girl, then?"

"I'm not sure. This writer seems to have different powers than you do, though. It's like they can write a bit and then leave us to our own devices."

"It does look that way," Fakir replied as he began to read it, Ahiru peering over his shoulder. "It's not a manuscript, though. It looks like it's already been printed. How did that happen?"

"I don't know," Autor answered, frowning. "But I think we need to find out what's going on soon. I have a bad feeling about..."

He suddenly stopped talking. Fakir, who was still reading the beginning of the page, waited for a moment before saying, "About what, Aut...?" He and Ahiru looked back up at him, only to find that Autor was no longer standing there.

"...Autor?!"

"Where did he go?" Ahiru asked, looking around the room.

Fakir stared at the empty space, his mind clearly trying to connect the pieces. "I don't know. It's like he vanished."

"What?! How?"

"I have a feeling..." Fakir began, going back to the piece of paper and reading it intently. As he neared the end, his scowl increased. "What is this?" he murmured.

"What is what?" she asked, trying to sneak a peak around his shoulder again.

"This story. It's definitely about you turning into a girl again, but for the most part it's so... vague. Somehow it's managed to do all of this with almost no details. It's not even complete."

"Well, didn't Autor say he thought it was still being written?"

"Yes, but it looks like this just stopped a few days ago and nothing's been written at all since then. Although if anything else has been written, I guess we wouldn't know. This page stops right after..." His eyes suddenly widened and he looked a little embarrassed.

"Right after what?" Ahiru asked, cocking her head.

"Nothing," he replied quickly. "Don't worry about it. The fact is it only seems to cover events through the morning when you turned into a girl and that's it."

Ahiru frowned. "So then who's writing it?"

"I still don't know," Fakir answered, his scowl returning.

"Well, what does that fancy thing on the top of the page say?" she asked, pointing at something.

"It says... This doesn't make sense...."

* * *

AN: What's going to happen to Fakir and Ahiru? You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out!

"Did you hear something?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

AN: So I wanna apologize for not getting this up last week like I promised. My computer is down with a virus and I somehow managed to pull this and the rest of the finished story off last night.

Please forgive me for this; I tried to warn you.

Disclaimer: And the world rejoiced that Magic Kaito does not own Princess Tutu.

* * *

"So," Ahiru continued, looking around at the ceiling suspiciously, "what does that say on top of the page?"

Fakir looked closely at the heading, obviously trying to make sense of what he was reading. "I've... never seen a word like this before," he finally stated.

"Well then I haven't either!" she whined. "Come on, at least try to read it!"

"It says 'F- Fan...'"

"Fan? Is there more?"

"Yeah. It's like one long word, but there's a period in the middle of it. 'Fanfictionperiodnet.' What?"

Ahiru blinked a few times. "Are you sure you read that right?"

"That's what it says," Fakir replied, pointing at it. "The word doesn't make sense, though. I at least see 'fiction', which implies a story, but what does the rest mean?"

"Ummm..."

"Ugh, I guess I have to step in after all," a voice rang out.

"Who said that?!" Fakir exclaimed, looking around the room.

"Hey, isn't that the voice we heard earlier?" Ahiru asked, grabbing Fakir's sleeve.

"What voice we heard...?"

"You two aren't doing what I want at all!" the voice continued. "If we're going to make this the greatest Fakiru fic ever, you two have to do your part."

"...What language are you speaking in?" Fakir finally asked.

"A-are you Drosslemeyer?" Ahiru said nervously.

"That's a girl's voice, moron."

"I am the person writing this story," the girl said. "Honestly, I'm kinda surprised you realized you were in one to begin with. Although I guess if I think about it, it makes sense with the canon."

"A cannon?" Ahiru wondered.

"Anyway, despite this problem, you two need to shape up and quit 'investigating' everything! Just accept what the story is! I can't believe you moved so far without me! What kind of a fanfiction do you think this is, huh?"

"What is this 'fanfiction' business?" Fakir asked, looking at the ceiling and frowning. "Who are you?"

"Oh, come on, no one gives out their full name on the internet. What do you think I am, stupid?"

"Honestly, at this point..."

"Fakir, what's an 'inner net?'"

"Like I said, quit asking questions! This is my fic!"

"What have you done with Charon?" Fakir growled. "What are you talking about? What kind of story is this?"

The author sighed. "Look, I don't know who you're talking about. I've only watched this series once. But I do know that you two need an awesomely romantic after story, which I am here to provide for other fans everywhere!"

Fakir and Ahiru were silent for a few moments. "I'm supposed to be completely lost, right?" Ahiru finally said.

The nameless author was now sounding frustrated. "Okay, long story short, I know all about what happened to you and Mytho and those other people. And now I'm writing another story to help you two out even more because the subtext was soooo obvious. Kay?"

"No!" Fakir exclaimed. "I'm still confused, but you think we want to be in another story? Of course not!"

"Yes you do!" the author exclaimed. "Now shut up and let me do my stuff! I wanna get a lot of reviews on this chapter!"

"Fakir, my head's starting to hurt," Ahiru whined.

The author sat back in her chair and frowned. In front of her whirred her device with which she would write her story, the computer. "I don't understand why those two know what's going on!" she said to herself, watching as her story seemed to continue to write itself without her typing anything. "How can two characters have so much control?"

Fortunately, her interruption had appeared to leave Fakir and Ahiru worried enough that they were waiting to see what her next move would be. This would be perfect! Now if only she could think of what it was...

"Well, of course this has to be a romantic story," she thought aloud. "I mean, what else do people want to read? The problem is going to be getting them to go along with it now that they know what's going on. ...Which it really shouldn't be! I watched the show, I know them! They should _want_ this! I really don't see what they have to complain about," she grumbled.

She thought for a few more minutes, carefully considering her options. "Although, maybe it's just because I surprised them. There's no way they won't go along once I get this going! I should just skip all of the development and lead-in stuff and get to the good parts! Nobody cares about anything else, anyway." With that, she placed her fingers on the keyboard and began typing.

Fakir looked around the room, still frowning. "Um, did she leave?" Ahiru finally asked.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "I know Drosslemeyer was always there even when we didn't know it, but she made it sound like we were able to do things without her."

"That doesn't make a lot of sense, though, Fakir."

"_That_ doesn't? None of this does!"

"Oh, true," Ahiru replied, thinking for a bit. "Say, Fakir, do you wanna dance?"

Fakir looked at her in surprise, a bit of color coming to his cheeks. "What?" he exclaimed. "Where is this coming from?"

"I dunno," she answered, shrugging. "It's just that I haven't really done any dancing or anything yet and that was what I missed doing the most."

Fakir felt himself growing more and more nervous. "But, why now?" he finally asked, realizing his reaction was probably starting to show on his face and looking away.

"Uhhh..." she thought for a moment. "Well, what else is there to do now, right?" she finally said with a laugh.

"Er, true, but weren't we going to...?" Fakir stopped mid-sentence, looking at her again a bit confused.

"Wh-what?" she replied warily, wondering why he was watching her like that. "D-did I say something wrong or something?"

Fakir's expression suddenly became serious. "No," he said, taking a few steps toward her. Ahiru jumped a little as her face turned red. He held out his hand. "Come on," he said.

Ahiru slowly took his hand. They looked at each other for a bit before they came closer together and started to dance. They didn't need music. They kept doing ballet, Fakir guided her because she wasn't very good as always. He spun her in a circle and they did some other moves. Ahiru smiled. This was making her very happy.

Just then, Ahiru's foot caught on the wood floor. With a muffled shout, she shot forward, her momentum sending her straight into Fakir who was also knocked off his feet. They went crashing to the floor with a thud, groaning a bit and trying to figure out what exactly had just happened.

It was at this point that they realized that Ahiru was lying on top of Fakir, who had instinctively put one arm around her. Their faces were very close and slowly turning bright red. Well, wasn't this awkward and convenient...

"Uhhh," Ahiru began, her cheeks pink, "F-fakir..." They slowly began moving their faces closer to each other.

"Wait just a minute!" he suddenly exclaimed, pulling his head back and looking at the ceiling.

"What is it?" Ahiru squeaked, surprised by his outburst.

"You think you're going to trap us into your storyline that easily?" Fakir continued, scowling. "Well, we're not falling for it!"

"Oh, right, the story..."

"Don't tell me you forgot," he said with annoyance.

"It's really weird, though," she commented. "I'm not really sure if what I'm feeling is what I'm really feeling, if that makes any sense..."

Fakir thought for a second. "Actually, that makes perfect sense," he said with a frown. "Now get her off of me!"

"I think you have to let go first," Ahiru said awkwardly.

"What?"

Just then, with an audible sigh, the setting around them morphed from Charon's shop into a beautiful glade in the forest. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, butterflies floated lazily in the sky, and Ahiru was still on top of Fakir.

His face turned bright red. "Get off!" he said harshly, finally managing to sit up and push her off of him. She hit the ground with a thump and a quiet "Ouch." Fakir sat there for a moment staring at the ground and looking thoroughly embarrassed. Ahiru eventually sat up and brushed off her dress. "Hey, where are we anyway?" she asked, looking around.

"A beautiful glade in the forest," he replied almost robotically, looking at himself in surprise after the words came out.

"Huh?"

"There's something we should talk about," he continued, looking around in a mild panic though his voice was mostly monotone.

"Um, Fakir, are you alright?"

"It's that author," he hissed, straining to talk. "I think she's..."

"Yes, I agree with you," she suddenly said in just as dead a voice, blinking.

"I need to tell you how I feel," Fakir said, finally giving up and scowling.

Ahiru had also seemed to realize what was going on and lazily looked at the ground with a sigh. "Oh really?" she said, not sounding hopeful at all. "What?"

"You mean so much to me," he continued with no emotion in his voice. "You make my life complete."

"I know what you mean," she began, starting to yawn. "Everyday I'm with you is so special." She rubbed her eyes a bit.

"I'm glad you agree," he replied, still frowning. "Because I have to tell you..."

"Tell me what?" she asked tiredly.

"I love you. WHAT?!" he finally cried, looking at the sky angrily.

"I'm so happy," Ahiru said in the same monotonous tone, looking as though she was about to fall asleep.

"Wake up!" Fakir said, sounding like his normal self, although he looked rather mortified.

"Oh, sorry, it's just been a busy day, you know?"

"We can't just let her put words in our mouths," he continued, blushing a bit.

Ahiru laughed nervously. "Eh heh, yeah, that whole thing was kinda weird."

"So you have to keep your guard up," he finished with a frown. "The only way we can stop this story is to fight it."

"I know that!" she replied. "But this person is really powerful. Look at what she's already made us do!" she said, hanging her head and looking awkwardly at him.

Fakir's expression softened. "We just have to be careful, alright? We need to try to anticipate her next move."

"O-okay," Ahiru answered, looking down at the flowers beneath her sadly. Fakir was quiet for a moment, trying to think of a way to brighten her spirits, when suddenly she burst into tears.

"What's wrong?!" he cried, looking at her worriedly.

"I...it's just..." she began, having trouble forming words through her sobs.

"It's just what?" Fakir asked with concern.

"I-it... It's Mytho!" she wailed.

All of the panic and worry suddenly dropped as his expression turned deadpan. "Huh?"

* * *

AN: I want to make a few things clear. First of all, this is not self-insert, as I really don't like that and it would make things a million times harder. Also, this author is not meant to be anyone in particular. I have not made up a screen name because odds are anything I think up will be something someone has and I really don't want to offend anyone. Okay, we're good now.


End file.
